IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL APPEAL (DB) No.825 of 2014

Arising Out of PS. Case No.-33 Year-2011 Thana- DIGHALBANK District- Kishanganj

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Munna Harijan @ Munna Lal Harijan Son of Shyam Lal Harijan Resident of

Village - Tulsia Kumhar Toli P.S.- Dighalbank, District -Kishanganj.

... ... Appellant.

Versus

The State of Bihar

... ... Respondent.

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Appearance :

For the Appellant

:

Mr. Dilip Kumar Singh, Advocate.

For the State

:

Dr. Mayanand Jha, A.P.P.

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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A. M. BADAR

and

HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUNIL KUMAR PANWAR

CAV JUDGMENT

(Per: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A. M. BADAR)

Date : 20-05-2022

By this appeal, the appellant/convicted accused is

challenging the Judgment and Order dated 25.07.2014 and

01.08.2014 passed by the learned Adhoc Additional Sessions

Judge-IV, Kishanganj, in Sessions Case No.565 of 2013, thereby

convicting him of the offence punishable under Section 302 of

the Indian Penal Code and sentencing him to suffer

imprisonment of life apart from directing him to pay fine of

Rs.10,000/- and in default, to undergo simple imprisonment for

six months. For the sake of convenience, the appellant shall be

referred to as “an accused”.

Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.825 of 2014 dt.20-05-2022

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2. The facts, in brief, leading to the prosecution of

the accused projected from the police report can be summarized

thus:

(a). Rukmani Devi (since deceased) was wife of

accused Munna Harijan. She married the accused about four

months prior to her homicidal death and that marriage was a

love marriage.

(b). Deceased Rukmani Devi lost her mother at the

age of about two years. Her father, thereafter, neglected to

maintain her and entrusted her to her maternal uncle P.W.9 Ram

Lal Harijan-the first informant. Rukmani Devi was then

maintained by her maternal uncle/P.W.9 Ram Lal Harijan and

her maternal aunt P.W.8 Rina Devi, wife of P.W.9 Ram Lal

Harijan. The accused used to reside in their neighbourhood at

village-Tulsia Kumhar Toli, Police Station-Dighalbank, District-

Kishanganj. Love relations between accused and Rukmani Devi

developed and that is how, the accused and Rukmani Devi

married each other and Rukmani Devi started cohabiting with

the accused in the very same village. After initial nice treatment

to her, married life of Rukmani Devi suffered from rough

weather, as the accused used to harass her by demanding dowry

in the form of gold and cash of Rs.10,000/-. In the meanwhile,

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elder brother Naresh Lal Harijan of the accused became ill and

after prolonged illness he died just a day earlier to the day on

which Rukmani Devi was murdered. Because of prolonged

illness of Naresh Lal Harijan, Rukmani Devi was being

considered as inauspicious women and she was driven out of her

matrimonial house and, as such, she was required to take shelter

at the house of her maternal uncle P.W.9 Ram Lal Harijan and

maternal aunt P.W.8 Rina Devi.

(c). According to the prosecution case, the incident

of commission of murder of Rukamani Devi took place in the

morning hours of 23.07.2011 itself at the house of P.W.9 Ram

Lal Harijan and P.W.8 Rina Devi, where Rukmani Devi was

residing after being driven out of her matrimonial house by the

accused. On that day, at about 12.00 P.M., P.W.8 Rina Devi was

in front yard of her house for drying the washed clothes. The

accused entered in her house. He assaulted Rukmani Devi and

after hearing shouts of Rukmani Devi, P.W.8 Rina Devi entered

inside her house. She saw the accused holding a knife. The

accused had given blows of the knife to Rukmani Devi. P.W.8

Rina Devi questioned the accused and accused threatened her

and asked her to run away. P